While it is not logical mathematically, there is something to be said for “addition by subtraction.”
Jordan Walker is making that case during the first month of the Major League Baseball season, and the St. Louis Cardinals are benefiting.
After belting his eighth home run in a 9-3 loss to the Cleveland Indians on Monday night, Walker led MLB in homers.
His early-season home run blitz had already put him in elite Cardinals company.
A Sunday home run against the Boston Red Sox made Jordan just the fourth Cardinal to hit seven or more home runs in the team’s first 15 games of a season.
He joined Albert Pujols, Scott Rolen and Mark McGwire. Walker hit just six home runs in all of 2025, and had just 11 home runs in 162 games previous to the 2026 season.
His 15 RBIs was MLB’s best and Walker’s .767 slugging percentage ranks among the league leaders.
While he still strikes out a bit too much — 18 strikeouts in 60 at-bats — Walker has posted an impressive .333 batting average. He has also scored 15 runs and stolen a base.
“Amazing” is one way to describe his start to the 2026 season.
To his credit, Walker is not basking in early success. He is avoiding the overthinking that plagued him in the past, though he admits it remains a challenge.
“I don’t honestly think I’m there yet when it comes to completely shutting my mind off. It’s still difficult. It’s hard to do every at-bat. I think [I’m] on the right track,” he told Brenden Schaeffer of MLB.com following Sunday’s game.
The Cardinals opened a three-game series Monday against the visiting Cleveland Guardians. It is too early to label Walker an MVP candidate or assume his torrid start will continue through the summer.
Still, he looks comfortable at the plate and more confident than he has since earning an Opening Day start in right field three years ago.
What has changed?
Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported in December that Walker trained at Driveline Baseball in Arizona “for an assessment and the beginning of an offseason commitment to adjust his swing, alter his stance, and dive eagerly into a total-body program.”
That work may be paying off, but it might not be the only factor.
John Mozeliak, who led baseball operations through 2025, is no longer in that role.
Whether that change has eased pressure on Walker is open to interpretation, but the results are evident. He looks freer at the plate and more decisive in his approach.
Fifteen games is the proverbial small sample size. At his current pace, Walker would hit more than 60 home runs — an unlikely outcome — but he appears poised for a productive season.
“You can enjoy it when it happens,” Walker said. “But the main goal is to keep it going.”
The Reid Roundup
A trio of other young Black MLB stars have joined Jordan Walker with outstanding early seasons…Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder Oneil Cruz is hitting .339 with five home runs and 13 RBIs. His Pirates were also in first place on April 13…Washington Nationals right fielder James Wood has five home runs, 14 RBIs and walked 11 times after 15 games. He also has a home run-robbing catch to his credit…Wood’s teammate, shortstop CJ Abrams, has four home runs, 16 RBIs and four stolen bases…How is wide receiver Hakeem Butler not on an NFL team roster? He’s clearly more talented than any UFL receiver, and he proved it again last Sunday in the St. Louis Battlehawks’ 34-30 victory over the Birmingham Stallions. Butler had 146 yards on four receptions and a touchdown…The Chicago Sky traded All-Star forward and irritant Angel Reese last week to the Atlanta Dream for 2027 and 2028 WNBA first-round draft picks. The two-time All-Star averaged 14.7 points and 12.6 rebounds during a season when she was critical of the organization and teammates. The Sky immediately gave Reese’s No. 5 to newly acquired guard Rickea Jackson.